Romo wishes to have back one play in preseason win

Published Aug. 25, 2013 3:02 p.m. ET

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ARLINGTON, Texas -- Tony Romo looked good in what was his final preseason action of the year. The Dallas Cowboys quarterback was 13-of-18 passing for 137 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in a 24-18 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.

But if he could have one play back, it would be the sack he took in the second quarter, a seven-yard loss that put the Cowboys out of field-goal range.

"I'm usually very heady on that sort of thing," Romo said. "For me, I think you're always going to look at a play or two when the game's over, and that's mine for sure. I've got to keep my team in field goal range there. As soon as I can't decide, I get sacked. A loss like that is either the 34 (yard line) or the 38 (yard line), but it's a huge difference.

"I'm glad it came during the preseason. I'm going to work on that and it's another thing that's a part of your thought process during games and game situations."

When the ball was snapped, the Cowboys were facing third-and-11 at the Cincinnati 34. Even if Romo had thrown the ball away, Dallas would've been looking at a 51-yard Dan Bailey field goal attempt. Bailey, whose career-long is 51 yards, missed a 50-yarder in the third quarter. He made a 49-yarder against the Miami Dolphins in the Hall of Fame game earlier this month.

Romo's two touchdown passes came on the drives before and after he took the sack, his second of the game and third in 10 series during the preseason.

"He's got to throw it out of bounds more," Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said. "He's at the point as a quarterback where he has to get that ball out of his hands if there's no options for him or there's pressure there. He said it to me as he was coming off that he can't take that sack. He recognized what happened on that play and keeping that standard high for his performance. With how he's producing, but also how he handles the situation of football is important for us."

Follow Jon Machota on Twitter: @jonmachota